“The new military-industrial complex is fuelled by a conveniently ambiguous and unseen enemy: the terrorist. Former President George W Bush and his aides insisted on calling counter-terrorism efforts a ‘war’. This concerted effort by leaders like former Vice President Dick Cheney (himself the former CEO of defence-contractor Halliburton) was not some empty rhetorical exercise. Not only would a war maximise the inherent powers of the president, but it would maximise the budgets for military and homeland agencies.”

“Obama’s counterterrorism team had developed what was referred to as the ‘Disposition Matrix,’ a database full of information on suspected terrorists and militants that would provide options for killing or capturing targets. Senior administration officials predicted that the targeted killing program would persist for ‘at least another decade.’ During his first term in office, the Washington Post concluded, “’Obama has institutionalized the highly classified practice of targeted killing, transforming ad-hoc elements into a counterterrorism infrastructure capable of sustaining a seemingly permanent war.’”

“The use of chemical weapons in Syria turned attention on Israel’s undeclared chemical stockpile, while Iran’s apparent willingness to have its nuclear facilities supervised by international inspectors could signal a new climate of transparency in nuclear affairs. Speaking at the United Nations last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Israel must declare it has nuclear capabilities.”

“Congress did amend the National Defense Authorization Act three years ago to prohibit funding for the transfer of any Guantánamo detainee to the U.S. It also prohibited funding for transfers to other countries, unless the Defense Secretary personally certified that the transferred detainee would never engage in terrorist activity. Because no one can give such a personal assurance, that provision effectively blocked transfers. But Congress then amended the law to allow the Secretary to waive that requirement and to transfer detainees to other countries if he finds (1) that the receiving country will take steps to ‘substantially mitigate’ the risk that the detainee will engage in terrorist activity, and (2) that the transfer is in U.S. national security interests.”